Page 48 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

“Told you!” Luka bowed to me playfully. “At least someone here has taste.”

“Is that something you really enjoy?” Zaria asked inquisitively.

“Who doesn’t like looking at the female form? Fae are art. Right?” I asked Nyx, who adamantly shook his head.

“Not the point of going to the festival, Kiera,” he said in a hurry.

“Even if your mate won’t admit it,” I said to Zaria. “It is half the fun of the Festival of Nanaya. Bring in the heat of the summer with love and prosperity. Why do you think we have a boom of births in the spring every year?” I laughed because Nyx looked utterly uncomfortable while Jaxus’ mouth hung open.

“At least I have one of you to have fun with.” Luka offered his arm and on a whim, I took it.

Luka and I started back down the hill, leaving the rest of them clamoring to catch up. I could almost feel Jaxus’ gaze burning into the back of my neck, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What are you doing?” he asked in the privacy of our bond. His long strides let him catch up with us quickly.

“What do you mean?” I asked innocently, glancing over my shoulder at him.

Jaxus huffed, and I swore smoke came out of his nostrils. “I thought we were going to train for an hour and then go?”

“We’ll have time for training when it’s not a festival day.” Or never. Which sounded better.

“If you don’t face your fear?—”

I held up a hand, cutting him off. “Can you enjoy yourself for one day? You’ve been all work and no fun since you got here. Let loose.” I made eye contact with him. “Besides, you said you didn’t want to go alone, and now you have a whole group accompanying you.”

It was a low blow, and I knew it, but he must have taken the finality in my voice as closure of the subject because he didn’t reply. Instead, he joined us by my side as our group stopped, forming a half circle at the edge of the festivities.

“We need to find the mead,” Luka said, taking the ringleader spot in this.

“Mead sounds great,” I said, ignoring the flicker of Jaxus’ mood hitting me in the back of my head, almost like he’d thrown a physical pebble at me. I resisted the urge to rub the spot as he came and slipped his arm into my other.

“It’s barely noon,” Jaxus said under his breath.

“Everyone drinks on festival days,” Luka said. “Lighten up.”

“Who are you, and what did you do with my best friend?” Zaria asked, linking her arm through Luka’s other arm while nudging his shoulder with hers.

“I’ve grown a lot from what we were allowed to be in our village, you know.” Luka got a serious look about him, but I don’t think Zaria caught it because by the time she glanced over at him, he’d plastered a smile back over his face.

“What do you mean?” Zaria asked.

“I’ve been to a few of these since we left the village. They are like traveling trading posts. But this is the first time I’m here for just me. There is so much more to life than what we knew, than what’s in the palace. I want to experience it all.” Luka detangled his arm from mine to put his hand on Zaria’s cheek. They stilled and something passed between them. A connection I could only imagine between best friends. “You should get a taste of it all, too, even if you are soul-bonded.”

“I am.” Zaria’s face lit up as she glanced over at Nyx.

He returned her smile, eyes burning like I’d never seen a male look at anyone.

Jealousy panged in my chest. The care with which Luka handled Zaria touched me. I’d never had anything that binding. I’d had Nyx and Kol, but as twins, they’d had each other on another level that, despite their best intentions, was impenetrable.

Add to that how Nyx looked at her, she really was loved andcherished. Suddenly, I didn’t want to be here. What had I been thinking? I’d never fit into these types of situations.

But I couldn’t leave. I needed to find the traders for my ingredients and I knew there was absolutely no way Zaria would let me escape the fun to go back to my sanctuary and the safety I found within my work. The first and only love of my life.

Jaxus slipped into the place Luka had vacated. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said dismissively, trying to shake off my flight response.

Jaxus glared at me, and I felt him push into my mind. “What are you not saying?”